"We would never have thought of having a swimming pool in the North because I would never have thought of having such hot temperatures", exclaims Clotilde, leaning on the edge of her new swimming pool.
Built just after confinement in 2020, the pool is a delight for the adults and children of the young woman's family, crushed by the intense heat that has hit France in recent days.
“This project has changed our lives.
As soon as you wake up, you're on vacation!
“, enthuses his father, Frédéric Sanz, who will now hesitate “much more” to travel in the summer.
Favored by the rise in temperatures, these constructions are multiplying in Hauts-de-France.
“There are more requests and more swimming pool installations in our region”, confirms Laurent Piet, Co-manager of the company Perte verte, specializing in the construction of swimming pools in the territory.
“I have been selling swimming pools for 20 years, I would never have imagined that the market would be so buoyant now”, he is surprised, explaining that the craze really started with the Covid.
“People took more advantage of the exterior of their home, and wanted to add a swimming pool to enjoy their exterior more.
According to the Federation of Swimming Pool Professionals (FPP), the region had 135,000 at the end of 2021, compared to less than 30,000 in 2005.
France is the market leader in Europe with one swimming pool for every 38 inhabitants.
It is also the 2nd country with the most swimming pools in the world.
Read alsoVIDEO.
“They are right to drill the jacuzzis!”
: in the Vosges, the battle for water is getting worse
This swimming pool construction boom raises questions as France faces intense temperatures.
"The swimming pools themselves, 35 million cubic meters, that's roughly 5% of the volume (of water consumption, editor's note), but over that period, in summer, so there, it's a real subject.
We have had in the past, in the previous four or five years, water towers completely emptied by the filling of swimming pools in certain municipalities, ”explains Thierry Vatin, general manager of the water agency for the Artois basin. Picardie, calling not to specifically stigmatize swimming pool owners.
"It's a bit all the uses that increase and the effort, it must be collective," he concludes.
